NEH Awards Major Grant to UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Civic Life and Leadership to Strengthen Civic Education Nationwide

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) has received a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to expand civic education, scholarship and the preparation of future leaders grounded in American political thought, constitutionalism and the classical foundations of civic life.

The award includes a $10 million matching grant and $100,000 in outright funding and will support the creation of eight endowed professorships focused on American political thought and constitutionalism, the classical foundations of civic education, great books and leadership. Together, the investment advances SCiLL's long-term goal of building a world-class civics school at the nation's first public university, with national reach and lasting impact.

"At a moment when civic trust is eroding and public debate is increasingly untethered from history, Americans need serious civic discourse and a renewed understanding of the ideas and institutions that make self-government possible," said Jed Atkins, dean and director at the School of Civic Life and Leadership. "This grant enables Carolina to recruit world-class scholars of the foundational questions, texts and traditions that have shaped American democracy and Western thought. By endowing these professorships, we ensure that future leaders confront the enduring questions of liberty, citizenship and the human good that are essential to a flourishing pluralistic American democracy."

The NEH award responds to well-documented declines in civic knowledge, historical literacy and civil discourse, particularly among younger Americans. At the same time, universities nationwide face a growing pipeline challenge: demand for civic education is rising, while the number of scholars trained in fields such as American political thought and constitutional studies is shrinking.

"With NEH's support, SCiLL can become a national hub for viewpoint-diverse civics-related scholarship," said Dan DiSalvo, professor and associate dean of faculty development and curriculum at the School of Civic Life and Leadership. "This investment allows us to recruit distinguished faculty who will prepare the next generation of scholars committed to civic education as well as leaders who will contribute to communities across the nation."

This endowment will also support the development of robust graduate education, including a planned MA program in Military Leadership for active-duty officers and a PhD program designed to prepare future civic educators. In addition, the investment will strengthen SCiLL's undergraduate teaching, mentorship, public-facing civic education initiatives and K-12 and summer civics programs already underway at UNC.